Step Three, Don't Hide
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day six hundred and twenty-seven: Kurt knows telling his father is the right thing.. it doesn't make it any easier.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 29th cycle. Now cycle 30!_

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><p><strong>Hear that little bird twitter!<strong> _Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!_

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><p><em>AN: It's a quarter to five in the morning, I'm still up on account of sleepover, so rather than leaving the posting of this up to whenever I manage to get up once I get to sleep, today's story is coming very early in the day ;)_

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><p><strong>"Step Three, Don't Hide"<br>Kurt & Brittany, Burt, Santana  
>Paper Heart #4 (following 'Step Two...') <strong>

The door shutting behind him sounded like thunder clap. Ever since he'd left Brittany with Santana, back at the ice cream shop, as he headed home, he could feel the knot in his throat, in his stomach… It was easier not to feel them while he was looking after Brittany, but now he was on his own… and he felt like a child. He knew he was right, that he had to tell his father, but it was just… He had lucked out on his last bombshell, but this was so… so different. Thinking about it only made his heart race that much more.

He could hear hammering. His father had mentioned he needed to fix the banister, which had gotten shaky and nearly dangerous. So Kurt walked toward the sound, marching to the beat like he was approaching… doom… Coming down the first few steps, he saw his father's head poking out from below, hammer and nail in hand.

"Hey, is it already…" Burt looked to his watch. By the time everything had happened, the clinic, the ice cream shop, then coming home, it was more or less the time when he'd get home regularly. "This thing's still not fixed," he frowned, testing it. Kurt came down a few more steps before sitting down, letting out a breath. Burt watched him for a moment, took in everything, then put down the nail and hammer, reached to put his hand over his son's shoe. "What's going on with you?" Kurt felt himself sniffle, and his hand moved to his eyes. "Okay, hey," Burt moved to go around and climb the steps to get to him. But Kurt looked up before Burt could reach him.

"Dad, I… I'm so sorry…" were the first words he could muster, and they did him in. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping somehow that they would be strong enough to hold back the steady flow of tears, but there was no use… Burt climbed up to sit with him, reaching to put his arm around his shoulders.

"Did someone say something to you?" he asked, ready to respond to whatever injury his boy might have received. But Kurt shook his head.

"It's nothing like that," he promised.

"Then what is it?" Burt asked, and Kurt felt mute. It should have been easy. Just open your mouth, say the words, and it's done… but it didn't work like that.

"Do you remember… a few weeks ago… I was down here, and Brittany was here?" he started.

"Yeah, sure," Burt answered, still looking to his son, waiting on him to keep talking. Kurt had considered the options. His father wasn't so much the slowly-ease-in type, more of the get-to-the-point type, but… he was sure in this case a bit of a cushion would be good.

"Everything that happened between us back then, I sort of put it in the back of my mind once I… well, came back to my senses. Except it didn't… it didn't end the way I thought, I…" He let out a breath, replaced with new air which finally carried out the words that had been lodged in his throat. "Brittany's pregnant… It's mine…" he managed before he lost his voice again. He wasn't looking at his father, didn't want to at this point. However this news was travelling over his features, with which emotions, Kurt didn't want to see the path.

"Are you… are you sure? I mean, those tests aren't always reliable."

"I took her to a clinic earlier, they did a blood test…" Kurt shook his head. He was somehow moving from being in tears to being in shock.

"Well, it's good that you did that," Burt started. "Very… responsible…" the last word came out like it sounded wrong to him and Kurt felt cold. "I don't understand, I… Didn't you use…"

"I honestly had no idea this would happen, didn't plan for it to, not when I'm not even…" Now the tears were making a comeback, and he choked up all over again, pressing his hands on his knees like it would help him breathe. "I'm so sorry…" was all he could say.

"Just breathe, alright?" his father's voice was so even and reassuring, like it always was… Did he do that just for him, while he was weak, or… "Is she okay?"

"Brittany? Yeah… Morning sickness hit her like a ton of bricks at first, that's how I figured it out, but she's doing better now. She's spending the night at Santana's, so she can get her head in order before she goes home…" He refrained from the usual comment like 'It might take a while,' considering how guilty he still felt.

"Thank you for telling me," Burt told his son, who was beginning to think maybe things would be just as okay as one could expect in a situation like this… and he thought wholeheartedly that he should thank every star that would hear him, for having Burt Hummel as his father, that if he should find himself becoming a father too, he would only ever aspire to be just like his own. "Are you good to talk about this? You know I have to ask you some things."

"I know," Kurt gave a quick nod. He wasn't sure how helpful he could possibly be in that moment, but for his father he could certainly give it a try.

"Have the two of you talked about what you're going to do? About this baby…"

"We tried. But I don't know that it's sunk in very well, and we were still too… scared to even think that far. But we will, we'll figure it out," he had felt just a hint of the strength he had shown for Brittany, and he was going to hang on to it as best he could. "What if…" he took a breath, "What if we decided to keep it though? What then?" For the first time he dared a look toward his father. He still had the aftershocks of surprise on him, but he looked relatively sound.

"We'll think of something. Not that I'm looking to be a grandfather at my age, but I can't imagine you thought about being a father at your age either…"

"No…" Kurt trailed on, eyes drifting off briefly. There had been something in the back of his mind for a little while though, and it had been moving forward since he started talking to his father. Part of him wanted to keep it underneath, protected, but he'd been so honest with his father so far, and Burt had been the same, protecting him. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you a secret… another one…" he amended, thinking about how he hadn't told him not to say a word on that one either. He probably would have kept the secret either way, but Kurt had to make sure.

"Yes, of course you can."

"I'd go with what Brittany wants to do, whatever she decides, but… part of me wants her to say she'll keep it, that we'll keep… it… him or her…"

"Why's that?" Burt asked, and Kurt sighed, running his hands over his face for a moment, breathing…

"Because it kind of occurred to me… Well, I'm gay… Short of a surrogate, this could end up being my one chance at a child that's half me, and… I don't know that I can abandon that possibility." He paused. "You know, it's like you said, I didn't think about this happening now, when I'm still in high school, but… now it might, and… that's that." He looked to his father, finding him staring back. The surprise had lifted away. He still wasn't bouncing with joy about this, not that Kurt expected him to, but… they understood each other, and Kurt could see in his father's eyes something in line with a trace of pride.

"I think you need to talk about this, when she's ready," Burt nodded.

"Yeah… I don't know when that will be."

"Well, whenever it does, I'm sure you'll be there for her, like you have been so far. And I think you need to tell her what you just told me."

"I can't do that. What if she goes with it just for that? She'd just end up regretting it and…"

"Is she that easy to sway?" Burt asked.

"More than you think."

"Okay, well… just use your judgment then."

"So it's like I said before… What if this does happen, and I become a father, and there's a baby…"

"Then I'll be a grandfather. I'll make it work, and so will you both… I don't know how yet, but… we'll come to it when we have to." Kurt looked to his father, and Burt wrapped his arms around his son. Kurt had no idea how much he'd needed that until he was snug in the warm embrace. The tears returned. He may have come to certain realizations, but it didn't make the prospect suddenly less scary.

Kurt had ended up helping his father fix the banister. He needed to clear his mind before he could even think of homework, and this was best. Even when he did get to it, his effort probably wasn't as strong as it usually was, but he did his best. Dinner hadn't been at its liveliest… neither of them really knew what to say, not after what they'd had to discuss before.

Later that evening, he spied his father sitting outside, on the old wicker chair… where he would sit to 'talk' to his wife, Kurt's mother, wherever she was… Some would just say he was thinking, but Kurt knew better. Oh, what news he had to give her on that night…

Except it wasn't just them anymore, was it? Now there was Carole, Finn… How would they react to this, if they ever found out? They'd just been through their own impending teen fatherhood drama, only to see it end in betrayal, in emptiness… How was this going to sit with them? If this went and cost his father his happiness with Carole on top of everything, he'd never forgive himself.

Then there was Brittany. Kurt went back to his room and called up her cell. "Hello?" she answered, sounding at least a little better than the last time he'd heard her.

"Hey, it's me, Kurt. Are you at Santana's?"

"Yeah. She made dinner tonight because she knows I like it when she cooks. She made sure I ate everything, now she's making sure I'm taking it easy so I keep it down."

"Never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for Santana Lopez," Kurt mumbled under his breath.

"Sorry?" Brittany asked.

"Nothing, never mind," he shook his head.

"How'd it go with your father? Did you tell him?"

"I did."

"Was he mad?"

"He's fine. More important, how are you doing?"

"Better than before. Being here helps," she explained.

"Well that's good. I just wanted to check in and see how you were. You know if there's ever something you need or if something's wrong, you can call me. Actually, I'd really appreciate it if you did call me if something's wrong."

"I will. Thank you," she replied.

"Okay, well… good night," he spoke after a beat of silence.

"Night, Kurt."

After they hung up, he sat on his bed, staring off into nowhere. He wasn't looking forward to the night. Either he wouldn't be able to sleep, tossing and turning, or he would sleep and find himself plagued by nightmares. This was only the beginning, he tried to tell himself. It was new, and scary. But it would change… he hoped…

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>******always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!******


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